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Special Collections
Cindy Aalders, Regent College, Co-Convener

MEMBERS PRESENT

• Brian Shetler, Princeton Theological Seminary, Convener
• Cindy Aalders, Regent College, Co-Convener
• Chris Anderson, Yale Divinity Library
• Patrick Cates, General Theological Seminary
• Sarah Danser, Princeton Theological Seminary
• Jane Elder, Southern Methodist University
• Connor Flatz, St. Joseph’s Seminary
• Dan Flores, Texas Lutheran Seminary
• Stephanie Garrett, Tenn-Share (Tennessee library consortium)
• Roger Loyd, Duke Divinity School (retired)
• Patrick Milas, New Brunswick Theological Seminary

MEETING

The Special Collections Interest Group met online via Zoom as part 
of Atla Annual 2021 on Tuesday, June 22, 2021, 1:00–2:00 pm Central 
Time. The meeting was convened by Brian Shetler, Princeton Theo-
logical Seminary.

AGENDA

1) Welcome and Introductions
2) Update on SCIG Convenor and Co-Convenor
3) Update on Listserv and Connect
4) Atla Annual 2021 Recap
5) SCIG plans for Atla Annual 2022
6) Institutional Reports
7) New Business



Interest Group Meetings  21

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS

Brian Shetler welcomed everyone to the meeting and brief introduc-
tions were made.

UPDATE ON SCIG CONVENOR AND CO-CONVENOR

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic Brian Shetler and Cindy 
Aalders agreed to continue in their roles as convener and co-conve-
ner, respectively. Part of the duties of these roles is to set up the SCIG 
excursion in Atla Annual’s host city, but the pandemic interrupted 
excursions in 2020 and 2021. Consistency in convenership seemed 
the best way to ensure a smooth transition back to in-person confer-
ences and the resumption of excursions. Brian and Cindy will work 
together to plan the excursion in Baltimore in 2022. Since normal 
practice is for the co-convener to become the convener, Cindy will 
serve as convener in 2022, and we will appoint a new co-convener 
at our 2022 meeting.

UPDATE ON LISTSERV AND CONNECT

Brian Shetler informed the group that the SCIG listserv will move 
to a new online portal. He directed members to Atla’s blog (https://
www.atla.com/blog/new-atla-community-site-coming-soon/) for 
more information.

ATLA ANNUAL 2021 RECAP

The group discussed Atla’s recent conference, particularly as it 
pertained to special collections. Patrick Milas expressed his appre-
ciation for the attention given to anti-racism during the conference 
and wondered about the possibilities of this theme for special collec-
tions. He asked, how can we authentically steward special collec-
tions that are heavily concerned with the cultural heritage of white 
people and engage with the emerging church and theological educa-
tion today? Jane Elder indicated that she had attended an online rare 
book school where they talked about how cataloging and subject 
headings obscure, erase, and overlook indigenous identities. She 
asked, how do our library records perpetuate societal imbalances? 
The recent RBMS (Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of ALA) 
conference included sessions concerned with necessary changes to 



22  A NNUA L Y E A RBOOK

cataloguing method. Stephanie Garrett reported that she attended an 
RBMS session on place-making. She asked, what can we do to change 
our space so that it attracts people to special collections? Attention 
must be given to how we present material. Brian Shetler described 
he changed a wall of portraits that had contained only white men so 
that now there is more diverse representation. Chris Anderson spoke 
about an Atla Annual session where Bo Adams gave a presentation 
on the collaborative possibilities of theological libraries. He asked, 
how could these principles be extended to special collections? Chris 
introduced the China Historical Christian Database (https://chcdata-
base.com), which is a collaborative project intended to map China’s 
Christian past. He indicated that the director of the project is look-
ing for collaborators on Chinese missions and he invited members 
to be in touch with him if they were interested. The question arose, 
could SCIG put together a session for Atla Annual 2022 (perhaps on 
this database)?

SCIG PLANS FOR ATLA ANNUAL 2022

The group expressed excitement to returning to an in-person confer-
ence in Baltimore in 2022 and discussed SCIG conference plans. Liz 
Leahy (in abstenia) suggested possibilities for a Baltimore excursion. 
She indicated that Cheryl Adams had put together a list some years 
ago: https://www.loc.gov/rr/main/religion/maryland.html. Liz also 
indicated that Washington, DC is only an hour away from Baltimore, 
so we might also consider the Museum of the Bible and/or the Library 
of Congress; she has possible contacts at both locations. Stephanie 
Garrett suggested an excursion to the Nimitz Library at the US Naval 
Academy, where she has a former co-worker.

Patrick Milas raised the possibility of doing something collabora-
tively with the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) 
and said he would follow up with them.

INSTITUTIONAL REPORTS

Roger Loyd, was Director of Duke Divinity School (retired) Durham, 
North Carolina, retired – retirement is good. Moved rare materials 
to university; they loan materials to seminary for display. University 
very good at working rare books into curriculum. 



Interest Group Meetings  23

Drew University
Following Brian Shetler’s move to Princeton, there is a new special 
collections posting at Drew, specifically in Methodist studies: https://
www.drew.edu/human-resources/about-us/employment-opportu-
nities/. 

General Theological Seminary
During the past year the library has been open to students and faculty, 
and it has just reopened to the public. They recently lost their archi-
vist. 

New Brunswick Theological Seminary
The library lost a part-time archivist, which has resulted in some 
services gaps, and gained a digital services librarian, which has 
addressed a backlog. The library was entirely closed until June, after 
which faculty and students could make appointments to visit; they 
look forward to opening fully in August. The past year saw a greater 
focus on digitization. The library has also applied for a grant to 
address preservation needs in special collections. 

Princeton Theological Seminary
Partway through the year, Brian Shetler moved to Princeton where 
he began a new position in special collections. In mid-June the library 
returned to normal hours for students, faculty, and staff, and they 
hope to reopen fully in the fall. New special collections exhibits will 
be mounted soon. The library has also recently changed its ILS and 
staff are working on an enormous cleanup project. The library also 
has many relatively obscure collections from Latin America and is 
working to make them more accessible and useful for teaching and 
research.

Regent College
In the past year Regent continued to purchase rare books written 
by seventeenth-century Puritan authors, as part of their larger Puri-
tan Project, which is funded by a generous donor. Online teaching 
during the past year provided additional opportunities to use rare 
books in classes. Due to the pandemic the library has not mounted 
any in-person exhibitions, but it has begun to experiment with online 
exhibitions. A major project this year was the acquisition of the 
papers and library of Dr. J. I. Packer, a longtime faculty member at 



24  A NNUA L Y E A RBOOK

Regent who died in July 2020. The papers in particular are extensive, 
and the library now requires an archivist to prepare it for research-
ers. 

Southern Methodist University
Special collections at the Bridwell Library is coming to the end of a 
two-year renovation project and will be reopening soon. Material 
held at the World Methodist Museum in Alaska will be moving to the 
library, and they have also acquired four historic printing presses 
from the Methodist Publishing House in Nashville. The library has 
recently lost its archivist, and the position is being recast before 
hiring.

St. Joseph’s Seminary
The seminary has been teaching in a hybrid format since Septem-
ber. Currently, the library and school are working on accreditation 
material. 

Tenn-Share (Tennessee library consortium)
The library consortium is in the middle of significant transition and 
is looking to fill a new position in theological librarianship.

Texas Lutheran Seminary
Dan Flores has been the director of the library for two weeks. He took 
the opportunity of the SCIG meeting to thank Roger Loyd (formerly 
of Duke Divinity School) for his role as an early career mentor.

Yale Divinity School 
The library is currently searching for a new director and a new tech-
nical services librarian position, the latter including responsibility 
for cataloguing special collections. Chris Anderson has worked on 
teaching and learning programs this year, searching for ways to 
connect special collections with curriculum. The past year has seen 
success, with fifty class sessions being held in the library. Chris has 
also connected with the chaplain regarding plans to have a chapel 
session in conjunction with special collections each semester. The 
library had a good experience setting up a reservation system during 
the pandemic and will likely continue to use this system in the future.



Interest Group Meetings  25

2020-2021 GROUP: [pictured, left to right] Cindy Aalders, Brian Shetler, Stephanie 
Garrett, Jane Elder, Patrick Milas, Chris Anderson, Roger Loyd, Patrick Cates, Connor 
Flatz


